My English project

[Gunmaster45]

Finally finished my letter, I'll let you guys read it. Hopefully I didn't mess up, I've been doing this under the typical sleep deprived, time constricted manner, and this is only draft two. Let me know what I should add. This letter is addressing Gun violence in America, let me know if I should add more of that to the letter since I focus almost ENTIRELY on talking about gun laws.

Dear Vice President Joe Biden,

My name is John and I’m a sophomore in high school. I know you are a very busy man with your new job in the White House, and dealing with such situations as the current recession and the war in Iraq is very time consuming, but I ask only that you allow me to take a moment of your time to tell you about an issue I feel very strongly about. The topic I speak of is gun violence in America, an issue I know your views on. I fear my rights are in danger and would like to tell you why.

I can image you are wondering why a fifteen-year-old like me even cares about guns, being someone living in New York, one of the most restricted states in the US. I like guns because I am a frequent sporting shooter, I sometimes hunt (although rarely), and I‘m a general fan of collecting guns with my father. I’m aware you are the proud writer of the Assault Weapons Ban of 1994 back when Clinton was in office, but being a law abiding, gun-loving citizen, I found this ban kind of harsh. Some guns added to that list were ridiculously out of place, such as the Browning Auto-5 shotgun, made in 1898 (patented in 1900) for sporting purposes. Another gun added to the AWB was the Ruger 10/22 rifle. Keep in mind Ruger’s catchphrase is “Arms makers for responsible citizens,” and the gun is built for sporting once again and are rarely, if ever, bought with violence in mind. Also an interesting point is that the term “Assault Weapon” implies a guns based off a military weapon, but only capable of semi automatic firing. An “Assault Rifle” on the other hand is a selective firing rifle built for military use. Now, banning “Assault Weapons” for being based off military “Assault Rifles” is like banning the civilian General Motors Hummer H1 because it is based off the US Military HMMWV. Hopefully you can understand my point.

Respectively I must point out that those who legally buy these so called “Assault Weapons” are not the vast majority who commit acts of gun violence. The most common (and not surprisingly) cause of gun violence is... criminals. Criminals who illegally buy illegal guns in illegal transactions, i.e. the black market. These people are not effected by bans or limitations at all, and the only people who are effected are law abiding citizens, who buy these guns for collective purposes or sporting. Granted, AKs aren’t used for hunting, but I still believe I have the right to shoot one for target shooting and competition, as I don’t plan to rob a 7-11 with it. While many people don’t see how these laws are ineffective in their main goal, and do more harm to the law abiding citizen, I and many others do and frankly, it’s not fair. Just because criminals illegally buy full auto military AKMs from foreign countries to commit crimes doesn’t mean I will. The two guys who took act in the 44 minute long North Hollywood shootout in California were armed with Romanian AIMS and Hungarian FEG AK-63E rifles (based of AK-47s), and they certainly didn’t acquire them from their local retailers.

I personally believe some of the rules set forth have a fair amount of purpose, although that doesn’t particularly mean I’m a fan of them. One for instance is the ban on high capacity magazines, limiting the citizen to 10 round magazines only. Once again, this affects the criminal in no way, but it does prevent a high school student from having a shooting spree with minimal concern for reloading his gun. Also, it doesn’t matter how lethal the AK-47 is, it’s just like any other rifle with a 10 round magazine. Another thing I respect is background checks. It effectively weeds out those mentally unfit to own or carry a firearm. Stated in the book Gun Control by George A. Millie, the FBI did 60 million background checks on citizens, and 450,000 were denied purchase. Personally, I think that law alone really separates the wheat from the chaff, since once all those unfit are labeled so, only the smallest percentile of legally owned guns are used to commit gun violence. Really, once all the “crazies” are out of the equation, it is relatively easy to see criminals with illegal guns are the number one cause of gun violence. Only the dumbest or craziest register a gun from Gander Mt.ä and then commit a crime. Those people are then quickly arrested and once again we are left with the illegal guns as the biggest factor.

I thank you for your time and hope you think about some of the things I say before re-instating the AWB until 2050. Please understand I’m not a gun-wielding criminal but a huge fan of guns in the aspect of shooting, sporting, competition, collection, and hunting. Not all of us “gun-nuts” are bad people. Gun violence is a serious issue but banning access to firearms in the hands of law abiding citizens would not fix the problem, and I hope you understand no matter how many laws you pass, criminals will get their guns and I’ll have to lie tossing and turning awake at night, knowing I can’t defend myself because all mine are taken away, ironically in an attempt to reduce crime. Good luck as the new Vice President, and I hope you an President Obama have a successful four years or more in the White House.

Sincerely, (full name withheld)